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About Michael J. Miller

Miller, who was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine from 1991 to 2005, authors this blog for PC Magazine to share his thoughts on PC-related products. No investment advice is offered in this blog. All duties are disclaimed. Miller works separately for a private investment firm which may at any time invest in companies whose products are discussed in this blog, and no disclosure of securities transactions will be made.

E3 2010: Does Gaming Need A New User Interface?

Looking at the major announcements coming out of the massive video-game conference E3 this week, I'm struck by how much of the emphasis at the show is on new controllers and new screens. Even though it's been years since the current-generation platforms shipped, there seems to be little urgency toward replacing them. Companies are mostly just thinking about how to make them available in less expensive packages.

Instead, the big ideas center on different ways of interacting with the same basic consoles. Microsoft probably got the most attention with its Kinect motion controller, formerly known as Project Natal. What makes this different is that you don't actually hold a game controller at all: It uses cameras to track your motions in front of your TV. With applications such as Sports (bowling, ping-pong, soccer, boxing), Adventures (simulated river rafting and similar activities) and Kinectimals (interacting with a virtual animal), the Kinect looks like a lot of fun.

Sony countered with the PlayStation Move, a motion controller that can be paired with the company's Eye camera, which allow the system to recognize depth, along with another controller that allows you to shoot with it as if you were holding a gun. The Move is due out in September. Nearly everyone who has seen it has compared with the Nintendo Wiimote, which arrived almost three years ago.

The Wiimote and the original Wii stood out with the Wii Sports package and later with Wii Fit, which used a balance board controller. These were big hits, but they were tied to the original controllers. Sure, plenty of other games have incorporated the Wiimote, but few of them really used it as much more than just another hand-held controller. Motion controllers so far have mostly found a few niche applications, just like other peripherals: steering wheels, mock guitars, and dance pads.

I think the big challenge for the Wii, Move, and Kinect will be to change the way people interact with the consoles in a more general fashion, not just for a game or two. Many of the people I know who love the Wii start out standing up, swinging their arms and really getting into the remote. But they end up not too long afterward sitting on the couch and making small movements. I wonder if that fate awaits the Kinect and the Move as well. We are, after all, a nation of couch potatoes.

Meanwhile, also at E3 this
year, Nintendo moved things in a different way with its 3DS handheld
gaming system, which includes a glasses-free 3D display. That
technology is very neat, although of course, it works only with small
screens that you need to hold pretty close to your face. But I was
interested to see that Nintendo is giving users control of the 3D
effect.

That device, which doesn't have a ship date yet, also
includes a 3D digital camera, a motion sensor, and a gyroscope. (Between
the 3DS and the iPhone 4, gyroscopes seem to be this year's hot
embedded hardware trend. And again--the Wiimote started it.)

What will make all of this work--or not--will be games
and other software that use the new technology in ways that go beyond
the obvious. I was intrigued by the Yoostar 2
demo, for instance: This game puts you into classic movie scenes,
sort of like video karaoke.

But will motion control turn out to
be a good way of controlling shooters or adventure games? Will we
really see new kinds of games? With included cameras, will the systems
be able to recognize you when you sit down to play? And will people
really use these controllers all the time, or will they just be an
occasional addition to the basic controller?

These are the
questions we can't answer yet. I suspect it will take some inspired
software to make the new controllers a part of our everyday lives.

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